The US Marshals are scanning millions of American phones with fly-by cell towers

Federal agencies have a new way to find people. According to a new report from The Wall Street Journal, the US Marshals service has scooping up Americans’ cell phone information by planting fake cell tower devices on board small airplanes. The device, known as an IMSI catcher, sorts through the collected data in search of a specific target’s unique ID, pointing the Marshals to his exact location. The program has been running since 2007, and according to the Journal, agents get a court order for each search, but it is still unclear whether the orders specify the alarming means by which the resulting search is conducted.